CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Oct. 18, 2023) - Following the U.S. Department of Energy‘s (DOE) announcement that the Chattanooga area will benefit from $32.3 million from Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Area 1, EPB outlined its plan to strengthen the resilience of local power services while creating more job opportunities. 

As part of its existing infrastructure development plan, EPB will match the new funding dollar for dollar to add energy storage, transition overhead power lines to underground service and replace aging power poles. 

“We applied for this funding because it was so well aligned with infrastructure investments we have already planned for enhancing the resilience of local energy services over the next several budget years,” said EPB President & CEO David Wade. “With this grant, we’ll be able to provide a greater positive impact across the community by reducing the likelihood of outages for many more customers using the same budget dollars.” 

EPB will utilize GRIP funding to advance three overarching strategies. The efforts will be prioritized to address the areas that most frequently experience power disruptions from storm damage and other causes:

• Add 15 MW of storage through six 2.5 MW battery installations, primarily in rural and underserved areas. 
• Invest in transitioning 101 miles of overhead power lines to underground lines. 
• Improve electric system resilience by replacing 1,338 power poles to prevent and minimize damage and outages, especially to withstand future severe weather. 

“Every EPB customer will benefit from these projects,” Wade said. “Anytime we can reduce the potential for damage in areas that experience frequent outages, that frees up more resources to respond more quickly to problems across the community.” 

In accordance with the U.S. DOE GRIP program’s emphasis on enhancing economic opportunities, EPB is also utilizing the funding in pursuit of its continuing mission to serve the community by establishing partnerships to increase local job opportunities through training and other programs.

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About EPB

With the mission of “enhancing quality of life in our community,” EPB is a municipal utility that delivers world-class energy and connectivity services to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the surrounding area. In 2010, EPB completed a 100% fiber optic network accessible to all its customers as the basis for launching America’s first community-wide Gig speed internet. The company still operates the world’s fastest community-wide internet service today at speeds up to 25 Gig. EPB also utilizes Chattanooga’s fiber optic network as the communications backbone for the most advanced and highly automated power distribution system in the United States. In 2022, EPB continued its commitment to keeping Chattanooga on the cutting edge by establishing our nation’s first commercially available quantum network — EPB Quantum Network℠ powered by Qubitekk, which aligns local job creation efforts with the national priority to accelerate the commercialization of quantum technology.

Since switching the lights on for its first electric customer in 1939, EPB has grown to serve a 600-square-mile service area with cutting-edge infrastructure that integrates power distribution and telecommunications. At the same time, EPB keeps customer benefit at the center of all its efforts, earning recognition from J.D. Power as the #1 Mid-Sized Utility in the South for the last seven consecutive years based on customer satisfaction ratings. Learn more at epb.com.